Samsung eyes scaling up connected health care service

Panelists speak during Samsung Electronics' Galaxy Tech Forum at Duggal Greenhouse in Brooklyn, N.Y., Thursday (local time). From left are Pak Hon, head of the digital health team at Samsung’s Mobile Experience Division; Michael McSherry, CEO of Xealth; Rasu Shrestha, executive vice president at Advocate Health; and Jim Pursley, CEO of Hinge Health. Korea Times photo by Nam Hyun-woo

NEW YORK — Samsung Electronics held their Galaxy Tech Forum on Thursday to offer a glimpse into the digital health care services the company envisions through the Galaxy brand’s artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities.

The event featured presentations and discussion sessions by Pak Hon, head of the digital health team at Samsung’s Mobile Experience Division; Michael McSherry, CEO of Xealth; Rasu Shrestha, executive vice president at U.S. hospital network Advocate Health; and Jim Pursley, CEO of musculoskeletal home care company Hinge Health.

“There are a lot of challenges that exist in traditional health care that make it difficult to adopt digital tools, and so health systems are trying to manage cost increase (and) workforce shortage issues in the midst of chronic diseases increasing,” Pak said.

“While Samsung is large, we’re not going to fix this problem. That’s just not enough. I think it’s going to take a village. This community that comes together, figures it out at scale.”

During the forum, participants held in-depth discussions on the health issues gaining social attention, as well as the technologies that could help address them.

Earlier this week, Samsung announced its acquisition of Xealth, a U.S. digital health care platform startup, to unify fragmented health care information measured through wellness tools and clinical records at hospitals.

Samsung plans to further expand its digital health care ecosystem by connecting it with other home appliances to offer more personalized services.

The company also stressed AI’s increasing role in health platforms, noting that its AI leadership in mobile devices will expand to the health care ecosystem.

As part of the plan, the company plans to empower its Samsung Health app with an AI engine, which will provide integrated health insights based on users’ daily health and medical records. If any signs of health issues are detected, a generative AI chatbot will provide optimized coaching and guidance.

Along with health care, the forum also addressed the Galaxy brand’s AI vision through panel discussions between Samsung Executive Vice President of Language AI Team Park Ji-sun, Google Android Consumer Product & Experience General Manager Mindy Brooks and Qualcomm Product Management Vice President Vinesh Sukumar.

Samsung has been hosting the Galaxy Tech Forum to explore technological innovations that can address challenges in the future. Thursday’s Galaxy Tech Forum was the third edition.